1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to the field of emergency communication systems for making known the occurrence of an emergency requiring a response at a remote location.
2. General Background
The invention specifically relates to devices for making known the occurrence of robberies and/or assaults on users of Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) or night-depository stations at banks, especially in conditions where only the assailants and the victim are present, and a safe and effective response is required.
The vulnerability of banking devices and people using them is long known. The current spread of ATMs, especially in remote and relatively unattended locations, has exasperated the problem of security for using ATMs and night-depositories. Such devices in these remote locations pose a danger, because they present the inviting opportunity of a remote location, a vulnerable individual, cash money and an easy chance of escape after perpetration of the crime. Alarm systems are generally ineffective, as each alarm must be responded to by a central alarm response firm which must first analyze the nature of the incident being alarmed before any assistance or help can be requested. Further, most alarms require a noticeable effort to activate, presenting the probability that the perpetrator will simply physically prevent the victim from activating the alarm or will take a violent action against the victim if the victim is seen to attempt an alarm.
The use of telephones for calling for help has proven quite satisfactory, as evidenced by the success of the 911 emergency response service nationally. However, installing pay phones at these isolated locations is not a practical solution for three major reasons. First, it is not economically feasible, as there is insufficient traffic to pay for the service. Next, persons using a pay phone are commonplace, not readily taken as a danger sign. A pay phone, thus, is an ideal waiting place for a perpetrator. Finally, a phone can easily be rendered inoperable by removing handset.
Any type of telephone, of course, requires a combination of actions to use, all of which are quite apparent to the perpetrator, and which an armed perpetrator can easily prevent or suppress. The placement of a regular telephone handset on an ATM or a night-depository is thus equally unsatisfactory. Any person planning a crime at the site will simply disable the telephone by forcibly removing or disabling the handset. It is further quite apparent again to a perpetrator whether a victim attempts to reach for a handset, and the perpetrator can usually physically prevent the victim from completing a call.
The wide-spread use of a standardized emergency response telephone system using a standardized number, "911", to switch through the existing telephone system into an emergency response network. Since such an emergency response network is required to respond to possible multiple simultaneous calls, it is a universal policy that no blind alarm may be used to directly dial into the 911 network. At all times, the 911 network requires the capability of controlling the duration and connection of a call so that the emergency response operator controls the line for every telephone call that is connected to the 911 network. As a result, alarm systems, in the sense of an automated alerting system, are prohibited from inter-connection to the 911 system by substantially all 911 jurisdictions.